Trump says border talks is a “waste of time”

A defiant President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he has all but given up on negotiations with Congress over his border wall and will proceed alone, as he dismissed any suggestions of wrongdoing in the investigations that have ensnared his associates.

In an interview in the Oval Office, Trump called the talks "a waste of time" and indicated he will most likely take action on his own when they officially end in two weeks. At the same time, he expressed optimism about a trade deal with China and denied being at odds with his intelligence chiefs.

"I think [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi is hurting our country very badly by doing what's she doing and, ultimately, I think I've set the table very nicely," Trump said. While he would not directly say that he plans to declare a national emergency to build the wall, he added: "I've set the table. I've set the stage for doing what I'm going to do."

The interview covered a wide range of subjects.

The interview was arranged after Trump invited Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, for an off-the-record dinner. Sulzberger declined, saying he would prefer an on-the-record interview that included two of his reporters.

Trump said he never spoke with Roger Stone, his long-time associate who was indicted last week, about WikiLeaks and the stolen Democratic emails it posted during the 2016 election, nor did he direct anyone to do so.

"No, I didn't. I never did," he said of speaking with Stone on the subject. Did he ever direct anyone to get in touch with Stone about WikiLeaks? "Never did," he repeated.

He dismissed the importance of the proposed Trump Tower his team was seeking to build in Moscow at the height of the election, and he denied his own lawyer's account of how late in the campaign he was still discussing the project. He also denied that his Twitter messages about former associates who are co-operating with prosecutors amount to witness tampering.

The interview came on a busy day at the White House as the President seeks to rebound from the 35-day partial government shutdown that failed to force Democrats to finance his wall. Fresh from a meeting with China's Vice Premier.